I just do a quick non-soap bath in the river or lake I'm camping at every day. Never heard of anybody using deodorant on the trail. Wash clothes, again no soap, every 3-4 days, dumping water well away from the water source. Clean clothes and maybe deodorant in the car before driving home.

How about no deodorant at all? Not answering your question, but some food for thought:

I have never used deodorant in my life, ever. I shower daily with regular soap (or every other day in colder climes).

When hiking, I wear the same clothes (100% polyester) for five or six days straight --sweating profusely in them every day -- and they still won't stink too badly. I do, however, wipe down at night, and change into a clean tee shirt on the last day hiking out. I can (and have) walk straight into restaurants and dine without arousing any suspicion after 4-6 days of hiking.

I realize there is a very, very small percentage of our population that requires anti-bacterial deodorants. But this doesn't begin to explain why millions and millions of people use the stuff every single day -- except for being suckered by relentless ads!

I think most people are aware by now that frequent use of antibiotics and anti-bacterial soap, etc. increases baterial resistance and weakens our body's own natural defenses against bacteria. Have you all thought about a similar effect from using antibacterial deodorants?

Maybe it shouldn't come as a surprise then, that so many people stink to the high heavens after just a day or two out in the wilds! Many of us have come to accept this as just the way it is. Except it really isn't!

Again, except for the tiny percentage of people who have a real need for it, I highly recommend that folks gradually wean themselves away from this antibacterial deodorant nonsense -- and let their bodies readjust to their own natural defense mechanisms. Regular hygiene is important, but when that is practiced, it's all that's needed for most of us. Wasting money is one thing, but I think the stuff is just not good for most of us.

Again, I recommend the deodorant crystal. It's a lump of mineral salt, that's it. It kills the odor-causing bacteria (which are part of our "musk" system. Women and men have different odors) under your arms and just needs water to work.

Ben, there are times I've missed taking a shower as I rushed off to work and all day regretted it. My odor may not be so bad because, living in Japan, bathing is almost a religion, but sometimes on the crowded trains I swear I was on the verge of swooning from the punk of certain individuals. That definitely wasn't just my imagination!

I have never used deodorants on my backpacking trips, it just doesn't make sense. I carefully do food prep away from my camp, send my food and toothpaste etc. up a tree on a rope... and then I'm going to rub bear condiments (deodorant) all over my body? Just doesn't seem like a good idea to me. That's one time I want to smell as much like a human as I possibly can.

I don't use deodorant on the trail. Ben, I've never heard of an antibacterial deodorant. While using antibacterial soaps is frowned upon, it does not weaken our natural defenses that I have ever heard.

The only time I ever consider any deodorant is when I am on a long thru-hike (The Appalachian Trail, Colorado Trail, Benton MacKaye Trail, etc) where I will hit towns every few days. Even after a shower, I still smell somewhat and the smallest little stick of deodorant I can carry comes in handy to protect the noses of locals from my well-earned trail odor.

Otherwise,on shorter trips, including the full 30-day NOLS courses I used to work, I just don't worry about deodorant.

No, I am definitely not saying that body odor is an imagination. But what I am asking is when humans use deodorants on a regular basis -- what does that do to our body's natural ability to fight off bacteria? Might a dependency develop after years of use -- such that we smell noticeably bad whenver we skip a day or two? For most people, does it make sense to wean themselves gradually off that stuff?

If you notice what your smell is on a continual basis you can dial in on your health. I walk, run, workout or do something to break a sweat everyday and I usually check myself out and I can tell when my body's smell is a bit off. There's a natural good type smell and then there's the funque, and it's easy to tell if you are a bit dehydrated or if you haven't been eating right from the amount of acridity the funque has. I eat alot of indian food and I swear sometimes I can smell onion and cumin in my armputs. I do think that masking or distorting our smell is against nature so to speak, but then there are the occassions with the ladies and what not where a proper clean up in required...

None for me. Typicaly, I'll shower before I leave on a trip, and NOT put any deoderant on. I almost feel it is a time to air my pits out from the everyday application of chemicals. When I hike, I sweat, and then I start to get a bit smelly. No point trying to combat it, just a rinse at the end of the day and your done.

On the trail is one thing, but people who don't wear deodorant and think they don't smell are just used to their own stench. I've been around lots of people who have made it difficult to breathe, and I've had to excuse myself. Just because YOU can't smell it doesn't mean you don't reek. I bet your farts smell like roses too, right?

Use it home for day to day use. I don't like stinking at home. On trail? Never. Part of the issue is synthetic shirts get bad odors often permanently so why bother? 10 minutes in a shirt and the odors heat up. So I stink anyways!

I think the people who use deodorant everyday will stink more quickly when they suddenly stop using it -- be it on the trail or simply a day of "forgetting".

What I am saying is not to just "quit cold turkey" and be a nuisance to others around them -- but to wean themselves off that stuff -- unless they are one of a small handful of people who truly need deodorants. By weaning, it can be taking more frequent baths initially -- then gradually decreasing to once daily -- or once every other day when not sweating.

Your assumption that people who don't think they smell are either unaware or in denial is not necesarily true.

First, my various hiking buddies are not the polite type.

Second, I've had a friend picking me up at trail head at the end of a five-day hike -- meaning he wouldn't have had the chance to get used to me. He placed a big towel on the passenger seat -- expecting the worst and all. He commented that I didn't look or smell like I had just finished a long hike at all. He also said that he had picked up a gawd awful smelly hiker once before -- hence the towel this time around.

My own mother -- who's a neat freak -- was leery when I visited her straight after another one of my four-day hike. When I got there, the door was already open so she could keep her distance. Her plan was that I would go straight to the shower without getting near her. Instead, I talked with her about the trip -- and you could see her loosening up within the first minute. I pointedly asked her whether she agreed that I didn't smell noticeably differently -- and she did.

Not saying I am anyone special or that I wouldn't also stink to the high heavens eventually -- but saying that most people probably don't need to -- and shouldn't be using deodorants on a daily basis.